Sweet Cheese Fritters Syrniki

5 from 31 votes

Sweet fritters made with farmers cheese, eggs, and flour.

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Total Time30

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: Russian

Keyword: ricotta pancakes, sirniki, syrniki

Servings: people

Combine cheese, eggs, sugar, oil, flour, baking powder and vanilla in a medium size bowl and mix all the ingredients with a hand mixer until you get a homogenous mass- no longer than 2-3 minutes. The mixture will be very sticky.
Put the non-stick or cast iron frying pan on the stove on medium heat and add 3 tbsp of oil to it.
Dust a clean work surface with some flour. Take a regular soup spoon and start scooping the mixture from the bowl. Put it directly on the floured surface and roll it in the flour, then flatten it with your palm to make it into a patty. Continue the process with the rest of your cheese mixture until it’s all gone. You should get about 14 patties.
Before you start frying your syrniki make sure the oil in the frying pan is very hot by sprinkling a bit of flour into it. If it sizzles it’s hot enough. Fry the syrniki the same way you would pancakes. When you turn them over they should puff up a bit. The flour coating will make the outside slightly crispy while the mostly cheese filling will taste light and delicious.
Dust syrniki with icing sugar as the final touch and serve them with your favourite jam or a fruit sauce. If you want a truly Russian experience enjoy them with a bit of “smetana”-creme fraiche

Tvorog or farmer's cheese can be found in many supermarkets, but if that is a challenge then well-drained ricotta is a good option. You can also use cottage cheese that has been well-drained and processed in a This is an affiliate link.food processor or This is an affiliate link.blender.
Don’t make the syrniki too big or they will take too long to cool al the way through and can burn on the outside. An ice cream scoop is about the right size, and helps make sure you are using a consistent amount of batter every time.
You want syrniki to be slightly crisp on the outside but fluffy in the middle. For this, the pan needs to be hot enough. Let the pan and oil heat up, then test by sprinkling a small amount of flour. It should sizzle if the temperature is hot enough.
But if the pan is too hot, they will look done outside but be undercooked inside. Don't stress - they can be finished by putting them in the microwave for 30 seconds.
Canola oil or vegetable oil are the best options here. The smoke point of olive oil is too low for use here.
Because they are cooked in a bit of oil, I like to remove the syrniki to a plate with a couple of pieces of paper towel to soak up any excess.